*sigh*

I've been too busy to knit the last few days. That makes me sad. I just starting looking at the Early Fall issue of Vogue Knitting and I want to be creating things!!!

Instead, I'm cleaning. And organizing. I've probably filled about 7 or more garbage bags, countless boxes of books and stuff for Goodwill, at least three big bags of clothing. And it's not even my stuff. I did go through my old bedroom this afternoon to sort things, and it was mostly books, so it went quickly. I still have boxes of household things to send out to Missoula. They are still stacked, taped and unpacked, as it took me this long just to make the room habitable. Grrrr!!!! I put in a new rod in the closet which looks nice and the furniture is basically set up. I'm estimating it will be at least one more day before I can get into the things I need to ship out to DB who is operating a household without many necessities and his precious cooking and baking materials. (He did manage to hang curtains without me though - I'm proud. I still haven't hung my own curtains!)

This is one of those times I want a bumper sticker that says, "I'd rather be knitting." I mean...I haven't even touched the dissertation at this point because it took three days to get a work space cleared.

Hopefully soon.....in the meantime, I am sore and tired and wish Goodwill did pickups or that I had another person helping throughout the day.

A few observations

I miss Missoula. And the boy.

I do like driving out West, for the scenery primarily, though the history is important to me as well.

And while walking through the tiny, empty town of Wall, South Dakota, I definitely saw a dusty old pickup truck, full of country boys wearing cowboy hats, drive by blaring gangsta rap. I lol'd.

Relaxing back at the hotel - I'm hoping these hours in the evening will lead to lots of knitting. So far, so good. Last night I got over one patten repeat completed...maybe 6 rows or so.

The Nest

Photos of the nest....so it's not a log cabin, but it is close to the mountains, woods and river! And again we have found a house with purple. The landlady says it will be painted another color soon though.

View from our big living room window and yard:

The start of the downtown shops and restaurants is about a mile down the road, as is the river and its trails. The university is nestled under these mountains, and also about a mile away.

The kitchen - note the custom curtains, including a valance on the back door...which is apparently hidden in this picture. Well, it is there....

The current lino will be replaced with a nice dark Pergo floor soon as part of the updates/fixes.

Off the back door is our patio - perfect place to enjoy a glass of wine and the wildlife. (Constantly barking neighbor's dog does not count...but all the deer and songbirds do! So far no bears.)

The living room is probably where I've spent most of my time indoors - it is bright and sunny and I think will continue to be even once we put the curtains up as they are off-white. The couch is nice and comfy too.

I've tried to make the plant (above) kill-proof so it will survive the next 3 months without me. I found this fancy soil that claims to prevent over- and under-watering, I gave it Miracle Grow plant food sticks and put in one of those blown glass water things. It will be very difficult for DB to destroy this thing. Plus it's a spath and they are really hardy.

Some of the inspiration pieces for the room....mostly the owl and wooden bird, though the coasters helped as well. Sent me in a very eco-green-natural direction when picking out colors and accents.

The back of the big chair-and-a-half is where we anticipate Isis will spend a lot of her time - it faces the big window and yard and in addition to deer and dogs, there are many roaming neighborhood cats.

A few of the colors and pieces in the bathroom - I kept my old shower curtain because I love the colors and I don't think it's too feminine for DB. He's been very generous in letting me make a lot of the design choices, so I'm trying to stay relatively neutral after our super-girlie bedroom last year.

The famous reading room - I just love this space. It is so cozy and lush with the microsuede chairs, leather ottoman and taffeta curtains. (Ahem...also custom!)

The bedroom is somewhat underwhelming right now. I can't quite figure out how to hang the pictures best in here and there's not a lot to it at all. It does have the two nice windows, and is very comfortable. I love our matching nightstands and modern lamps.

Finally, the office. It's rather unfinished as well for now. I love the desk and bookshelves though, and the lamp was a great choice.

It's also housing DB's bike (and possibly mine in the future) since there is plenty of space and it's nice and out of the way.

Well - that is our little nest in Missoula. I am so happy with it....and very sad to be leaving tomorrow for CT again. Mixed....because I want to see family and friends and the cat.....and finish the dissersucktation....and refurbish the old Schwinn and hopefully make a little money getting rid of a lot of my stuff! But, being with DB always feels like home, no matter where we are, so it's hard to be away, especially now that we've settled in. We'll be missing both our birthdays together and our five year anniversary.

It will be nice to have a small cat join our household again in November...and we're planning a nice Thanksgiving together this year too. The three months will go quickly, but I hate goodbyes....it's like yet another termination, as if there weren't enough this year!

Off to spend quality time with the boy....farewell for now. Will be in Billings, then Wall, SD the next couple of days.